 |
Existentialism
Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)
The Savages |
Du
hast mich letzthin einmal gefragt, warum ich behaupte,
ich hätte Furcht vor Dir |
Those savages of whom it is recounted that they have no other
longing than to die, or rather, they no longer have even that
longing, but death has a longing for them, and they abandon
themselves to it, or rather, they do not even abandon themselves,
but fall into the sand on the shore and never get up again.
Those savages I much resemble, and indeed I have fellow clansmen
round about, but the confusion in these territories is so
great, the tumult is like waves rising and falling by day
and by night, and the brothers let themselves be borne upon
it. That is what, in this country, is called "giving someone
a leg up"; everyone here is always ready with such help. Anyone
who might collapse without cause and remain lying on the ground
is dreaded as though he were the Devil; it is because of the
example, it is because of the stench of truth that would emanate
from him. Granted, nothing would happen; one, ten, a whole
nation might very well remain lying on the ground and nothing
would happen; life in all its might would go on just the same;
the attics are still chockablock with flags that were never
unfurled; this barrel organ can play only one tune, but it
is eternity in person that turns the handle. And yet the fear!
How people do always carry their own enemy, however powerless
he is, within themselves.
Ce
qu'on fait n'est jamais compris mais seulement loué ou blâmé.
Nietzsche, Gay Science |
|
